It is commonly known that there are currently several different and varied types of three-dimensional structures available, which are used, among other things, as Christmas ornaments. Thus, innumerable types of Christmas ornaments can be found on the market, in different shapes and designs, such as ornaments in the shape of a ball, bell, apple, drum, barrel, etc.
These Christmas ornaments are made of blown glass, or with a hollow plastic core and a painted surface, or with a solid core of polymeric material, covered with textile yarn of different finishes and colors, etc.
Among the various types of Christmas ornaments, the blown-glass ornaments are the most attractive to the eye of the consumer, principally due to their shiny finish. However, these ornaments have the great disadvantage that they must be handled with extreme care, since they are very fragile and can easily be broken. At times even the person who is handling the ornament could be cut by the glass. They are even worse in the hands of small children. These ornaments break easily when negligent parents allow the children to play with them.
In addition, the monetary factor must be taken into account. Since this type of ornament breaks easily, replacements must be bought frequently, resulting in additional expense.
On the other hand, the polymeric material solid-core ornaments covered with textile yarn are also inconvenient. When the yarn is wound around the core, it is not uniformly distributed on the surface of the ball. This results in an imperfect finish which does not appeal to the eye of the consumer, since the final finish tends to appear dull.
In some cases, it is possible to utilize shiny or metallic thread backed by textile yarn. However, this presents the disadvantage that when the yarn is wound around the ornament, the combination of yarn and thread tends to become twisted, also resulting in an imperfect finish.
The hollow plastic-core ornaments with painted surfaces attempt to achieve the effect of a finish similar to that of the blown-glass ornaments. However, with current techniques, the final finish achieved is not appealing to the eye of the consumer, since most of the time the core shows some defects on the surface which become even more noticeable when painted. In addition, many times the paint itself is not properly applied.
It is important to note that currently, the market does not offer any three-dimensional structures that meet the appearance standards of the blown glass ornaments while maintaining the durability of the plastic ornaments.
Therefore, we have attempted to overcome the deficiencies of current techniques and provide a three-dimensional structure covered with a continuous strip of flat tape or film that offers considerable advantages over traditional Christmas ornaments.